Doro - Warrior Soul

Liu · 10-18-2006, 08:48 PM

Doro - Warrior Soul
Locomotive

I haven't really kept up with Doro's work in the last few years. Last album I heard from the German rock goddess was Calling The Wild, a fairly good heavy metal album featuring a multitude of guest appearances by notable musicians like Al Pitrelli, Slash and Lemmy Kilmister. While it had its share of misses, it showed that even in the new millenium, Doro is still very much as relevent as she was back in her Warlock heyday. Fast forward several years and now I have Warrior Soul in my hands. Will it be the headbanging good time that one usually expects from Doro?

With Warrior Soul, Doro has written an album of mostly anthemic, pump-your-fist-in-the-air songs. Or at least she tries to. Some of the songs suffer from a noticable lack of power, not producing anything close to the effect that they were intended to make. Bright spots are found in the form of Haunted Heart, Thunderspell and My Majesty, all of which do a good job on the rocking side of things, albiet falling short of true greatness. The album has a fair amount of power ballads, most of which fail to elicit any sort of emotion. The title track doesn't move one like its supposed to, trudging along at a slow pace with an attempt at epic bombast during the chorus but misses the mark like a blind archer.

There are two songs sung in Doro's native german: In Liebe Und Freundschaft and Ungebrochen. In Liebe Und Freundschaft is another power ballad and the choice to go with german lyrics is a real liability here. She has a hard time conveying a sense of emotion through the accent, stealing the song's thunder. Ungebrochen is a very short rocker that zips by before it can make any sort of impact. The album closes with Shine On. Unfortunately it isn't a Riot cover. Its another anthemic power ballad, bringing the total to five if you include the title track. Actually there is an acoustic version of the title track hidden after the last song, so that bumps up the total to six. That is pretty much overkill. When the album ends, none of these songs will stay in your head. Its the epitome of mediocre.

Doro herself was never really known for having the most capable voice, so in comparison her voice now isn't that much different. It is rough around the edges, but someone already familiar with her work shouldn't be turned off by the vocals on Warrior Soul. Too bad the same can't be said about the music.

01. You're My Family
02. Haunted Heart
03. Strangers Yesterday
04. Thunderspell
05. Warrior Soul
06. Heaven I See
07. Creep Into My Brain
08. Above The Ashes
09. My Majesty
10. In Liebe Und Freundschaft
11. Ungebrochen
12. Shine On

Score: 5/10

10-18-2006, 08:48 PM	#1
Liu Global Galaxy Tyrant Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 196	Doro - Warrior Soul Doro - Warrior Soul Locomotive I haven't really kept up with Doro's work in the last few years. Last album I heard from the German rock goddess was Calling The Wild, a fairly good heavy metal album featuring a multitude of guest appearances by notable musicians like Al Pitrelli, Slash and Lemmy Kilmister. While it had its share of misses, it showed that even in the new millenium, Doro is still very much as relevent as she was back in her Warlock heyday. Fast forward several years and now I have Warrior Soul in my hands. Will it be the headbanging good time that one usually expects from Doro? With Warrior Soul, Doro has written an album of mostly anthemic, pump-your-fist-in-the-air songs. Or at least she tries to. Some of the songs suffer from a noticable lack of power, not producing anything close to the effect that they were intended to make. Bright spots are found in the form of Haunted Heart, Thunderspell and My Majesty, all of which do a good job on the rocking side of things, albiet falling short of true greatness. The album has a fair amount of power ballads, most of which fail to elicit any sort of emotion. The title track doesn't move one like its supposed to, trudging along at a slow pace with an attempt at epic bombast during the chorus but misses the mark like a blind archer. There are two songs sung in Doro's native german: In Liebe Und Freundschaft and Ungebrochen. In Liebe Und Freundschaft is another power ballad and the choice to go with german lyrics is a real liability here. She has a hard time conveying a sense of emotion through the accent, stealing the song's thunder. Ungebrochen is a very short rocker that zips by before it can make any sort of impact. The album closes with Shine On. Unfortunately it isn't a Riot cover. Its another anthemic power ballad, bringing the total to five if you include the title track. Actually there is an acoustic version of the title track hidden after the last song, so that bumps up the total to six. That is pretty much overkill. When the album ends, none of these songs will stay in your head. Its the epitome of mediocre. Doro herself was never really known for having the most capable voice, so in comparison her voice now isn't that much different. It is rough around the edges, but someone already familiar with her work shouldn't be turned off by the vocals on Warrior Soul. Too bad the same can't be said about the music. 01. You're My Family 02. Haunted Heart 03. Strangers Yesterday 04. Thunderspell 05. Warrior Soul 06. Heaven I See 07. Creep Into My Brain 08. Above The Ashes 09. My Majesty 10. In Liebe Und Freundschaft 11. Ungebrochen 12. Shine On Score: 5/10 __________________ Lapland Metal